Inaugural 'What's the Craic Bar Crawl' Honors Local Navy Serviceman

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This past Saturday, August 25, a gaggle of fun-loving locals made it their mission to hit up almost every bar in Rockaway to unite the community and to especially celebrate the end of summer with their friend, Kevin Acosta, before he returns to his U.S. naval post in Honolulu, Hawaii.

A group that included Jason Nochamre, Matthew Cappiello, Andrew Fay, Chris Rivara, Matt Brady, Kevin Acosta, Katie Gallagher, Joseph Gallagher, John Boyle and Danny Goldberg had great craic on Saturday as they made their way around town. Their “What’s the Craic Bar Crawl” extended from Arverne to Belle Harbor with watering holes on the hefty list that included Jameson’s, Pico RBNY, Rogers, Happy Jack's Burger Bar, Healy’s Pub, Community House, Rockaway Beach BBQ, Whit’s End, Bungalow Bar, Connolly’s, Sayra’s Wine Bar, Rockaway Beach Surf Club, Rockaway Brewing Company and Epstein’s. However, when the crawlers discovered that the latter was closed, they stumbled upon local outdoor eatery, La Barracuda, and were in full force to add something new to the list.

In Gaelic, the term, craic, means fun, and the organizers, Katie and Joseph Gallagher thought it was the perfect way to describe a bar crawl in Rockaway. The Gallaghers said, “The mustache bash bar crawl was a fun event in Rockaway, and we wanted to bring it back, and with Kevin here, what better way to gather our friends to celebrate the end of the summer and our love for Kevin, and honor his service to our country!”

Due to the hurricane in Hawaii, Acosta, a lifelong Rockaway resident, was unable to fly back to base, so his friends decided to organized the bar crawl in honor of him. Joseph Gallagher, a member of United Brothers of Carpenters Local 157 NYC Union, said, “I’m a union guy and have great respect for what guys like Kevin sacrifice for this country, and this was the perfect opportunity to gather our friends to do this bar crawl, and we hope to make this an annual event. This bar crawl was created for locals by locals. This is why we got these t-shirts made, to have a permanent Rockaway stamp on how we roll as a community — united as one!”

Acosta joined the Navy when he was 18, and after four years of service stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, he will receive honorable discharge on September 28. Acosta said, “While on deployment, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and tinnitus, also while on duty, I lacerated the flexor tendon in my right hand. I’ll miss the Navy because it taught me discipline and gave me great pride to serve my country. Serving the Navy gave me purpose and taught me a lot, for which I’ll be forever grateful, and for my friends to include me in this event is a memory I will always treasure.